Collection of rare American coins sells for USD 25 million

New York: A trove of 128 rare American coins from the late 18th and early 19th centuries has fetched a whopping USD 25.3 million at an auction here, with one setting a new world record.

A small gold coin from 1808 called a Quarter Eagle sold for USD 2.35 million at the auction held on Tuesday, setting a world record for any coin of that denomination.

The coin, worth USD 2.50 when it was minted, also became the most valuable 19th century US gold coin sold at auction.

The 128 coins auctioned through Stack’s Bowers Galleries and Sotheby’s were the first sold in a series of seven auctions for D Brent Pogue, a renowned coin collector from Orange County.

Pogue’s rare “coin cabinet” is considered the most valuable collection in private hands.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be the best American collection ever bought or sold,” Vicken Yegparian, the vice president of numismatics at Stack’s Bowers Galleries, was quoted as saying by ‘ocregister.com’.

Although the coins pertain to American history, some of the biggest buyers were based outside the US, said Brian Kendrella, president of Stack’s Bowers.

A half-dollar minted in 1797 sold for nearly USD 1.5 million at the auction, becoming the most valuable half-dollar coin ever sold.

Pogue spent four decades amassing a collection of American coins minted between 1792 and the 1830s.

Stack’s Bowers and Sotheby’s are planning six more auctions of coins from Pogue’s collection, ending with the last in May 2017.